7 Most Instagrammable Spots in Sidi Bou Said, Tunisia's Blue-and-White Clifftop Village

Sidi Bou Said sits on a headland above the Gulf of Tunis, about 18 kilometres from the Tunisian capital and easily reached by the TGM light rail line. Its strict blue-and-white colour code, enforced since the early 20th century, has made it one of North Africa's most photographed villages. Here are seven spots worth the walk.

1. The blue doors along the main lane

Every door in the village follows the same cobalt-blue-and-white scheme, but no two are identical: studded ironwork, horseshoe arches and carved crescents make each one slightly different. The main lane climbing from the village entrance is the densest stretch of them, and mid-morning light before the tour groups arrive tends to give the cleanest shots.

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2. Café des Nattes

Open since 1920 and named for the straw mats once laid out for customers, Café des Nattes is the village's best-known café, with a shaded terrace that has drawn writers including Simone de Beauvoir and André Gide over the decades. A glass of mint tea with pine nuts, taken slowly, is as much the point as the photograph.

3. The steps and archways near Place 7 Novembre

The square at the top of the village, ringed by blue-shuttered cafés, is also where the local street snack bambalouni, a sugar-dusted fried dough, is sold at its best-known stall. The archways and stepped lanes leading off the square are among the most photographed corners in the village.

4. The clifftop viewpoint over the Gulf of Tunis

Past the main café strip, a viewpoint opens onto the Gulf of Tunis and, on a clear day, the marina below. It's one of the few spots in the village where the frame widens out from doorways and alleys to open water and sky.

5. Palais Ennejma Ezzahra

The former palace of Baron Rodolphe d'Erlanger, the French musicologist credited with imposing the village's blue-and-white colour code in the early 1900s, now houses a centre for Arab and Mediterranean music. Its courtyards and tiled interiors offer a more ornate contrast to the plain façades outside.

6. The marina and beach below the village

A steep road drops from the village to a small marina and beach, where fishing boats and the whitewashed hillside above make for a different angle on the same colour scheme, shot from below rather than within the lanes.

7. The wire birdcage stalls

Sidi Bou Said is known for domed, filigreed wire birdcages, a local craft sold in small shops throughout the village, often painted in the same blue-and-white palette as the doors around them. They make a compact, distinctly local prop for a close-up shot.

Traveller tips

• The TGM light rail connects Tunis to Sidi Bou Said in around 30 minutes, with the village a short uphill walk from the station.
• Early morning or late afternoon light works best for the blue doors; midday sun tends to flatten the colour contrast in photographs.
• The village gets busy with day-trip groups by late morning; visiting just after opening hours thins the crowds considerably.
• Comfortable shoes are worth packing, as the lanes are cobbled and steep in places.